{"id":139981,"date":"2015-08-03T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T06:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=139981"},"modified":"2015-08-03T06:04:11","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T06:04:11","slug":"is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy heart suddenly began pounding, breathing became difficult and I was choking. There was an intense wave of fear and I was sweating so profusely in my air-conditioned car. I was almost certain I was going to die. It was a very scary experience, but it all vanished after 5 minutes\u201d narrated a patient to me recently.<\/p>\n

What this patient was suffering was neither an asthmatic attack, nor a heart attack. She was experiencing a panic attack.<\/p>\n

Panic attacks are very common events, especially among young adults. Some estimates put the incidence at about 1 per 30.<\/p>\n

A panic attack is an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes. The physical symptoms of a panic attack are caused by your body going into “fight or flight” mode in response to something you think is a threat, but actually isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Symptoms of a panic attack usually consists of 4 or more of the following;<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate<\/li>\n
  2. Sweating<\/li>\n
  3. Trembling or shaking<\/li>\n
  4. Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering<\/li>\n
  5. Feeling of choking<\/li>\n
  6. Chest pain or discomfort<\/li>\n
  7. Nausea or abdominal distress<\/li>\n
  8. Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint<\/li>\n
  9. Chills or heat sensations<\/li>\n
  10. Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)<\/li>\n
  11. Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)<\/li>\n
  12. Fear of losing control or going crazy<\/li>\n
  13. Fear of dying<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    These attacks may occur as isolated incidents without any sequelae, but where they occur along with worry about having another attack or worry about consequences of the attack, or produce significant maladaptive behavioral changes (e.g. refusing to drive on the highway because of fear of another attack) it is then known as Panic Disorder and if not managed can bring the affected individual\u2019s life virtually to a halt.<\/p>\n

    Since a good number of panic attacks occur in public places, some individuals with panic disorder may decide to stay home perpetually, fearing another attack may occur if they should venture out. This phenomenon, known as agoraphobia (literally meaning \u201cfear of the market\u201d) affects the individual\u2019s social relationships, estranging family and friends, and may make employment and work impossible. It may also trigger other mood disorders like depression.<\/p>\n

    Triggers<\/strong>– In most cases no trigger can be identified. In some cases, anticipation of a very important event, like your wedding or an examination, or just before a public appearance, can be triggers. Some also realize that taking alcohol or caffeine or smoking may trigger or worsen an attack.<\/p>\n

    Factors that make one more likely to experience a panic attack, as outlined by Anxiety Coach Dr. David Carbonell, include genetic predisposition and anxious trends during childhood, e.g. there was an early death in the family, severe illness, or some other serious problem like alcoholism or divorce, or the child learned to spend too much time and effort taking care of others, trying too hard to please others, and feeling responsible for the happiness of others.<\/p>\n

    Dr. Carbonell also identifies challenges of emerging adulthood as another predisposing factor. \u201cFeeling trapped in a bad job or relationship, or experiencing the loss of family and\/or friends may predispose to panic attacks. Or they may have had a lot of changes which weren’t bad in themselves – finishing school, changing jobs, getting married, moving, buying\/selling a home, having babies, etc. – but which had a cumulative stressful effect on the person to the point that he\/she found it hard to cope with them all.\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

    Dealing with it<\/strong>– When a panic attack occurs, the patient is advised to employ calming techniques to see it through;<\/p>\n

    Breathe in slowly and deeply through the nose and exhale through the mouth.<\/p>\n

    Loosen all tight clothing and sit in an airy environment<\/p>\n

    As scary as it seems, a panic attack is not life-threatening.<\/p>\n

    All who suffer from persistent panic attacks, especially those who have associated agoraphobia, will benefit from a psychologist\/psychiatrist review, who will use cognitive behavioural therapy (thought restructuring), medication or a combination of these to help the patient cope and recover.<\/p>\n

    The following practical suggestions (proposed by the UK National Health Service) may help prevent panic attacks:<\/p>\n

    Learn relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing and muscle stretches- these help manage stress<\/p>\n

    Eat regular meals (not necessarily heavy ones) to stabilise your blood sugar levels (fluctuations in the blood sugar can produce a stress response)<\/p>\n

    Avoid caffeine, alcohol and smoking- these can induce attacks or make them worse.<\/p>\n

    Panic disorder can be incapacitating, but there is treatment for it. Celebrities like Adele, Johnny Depp and late Lady Dianna have all succeeded in overcoming their panic attacks and disorders. A panic attack does not portend the end of the world; with help, you can beat it.<\/p>\n

    The conversation continues this Wednesday on the Citi Health Chat.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    By: K.T. Nimako (MB ChB)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Dr. Kojo Nimako is a private medical practitioner with an interest in public health and Citi FM\u2019s Chief Medical Correspondent. He is also the Executive Director of Helping Hand Medical Outreach, an NGO focused on health education.<\/p>\n

    E-mail: kojotwumnimako@gmail.com<\/p>\n

    Twitter: @KTNimako<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cMy heart suddenly began pounding, breathing became difficult and I was choking. There was an intense wave of fear and I was sweating so profusely in my air-conditioned car. I was almost certain I was going to die. It was a very scary experience, but it all vanished after 5 minutes\u201d narrated a patient to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":139983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[15,38],"yoast_head":"\nIs Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder? - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder? - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMy heart suddenly began pounding, breathing became difficult and I was choking. There was an intense wave of fear and I was sweating so profusely in my air-conditioned car. I was almost certain I was going to die. It was a very scary experience, but it all vanished after 5 minutes\u201d narrated a patient to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-03T06:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-03T06:04:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/panic-attack.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/\",\"name\":\"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder? - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-03T06:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-03T06:04:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder? - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder? - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"\u201cMy heart suddenly began pounding, breathing became difficult and I was choking. There was an intense wave of fear and I was sweating so profusely in my air-conditioned car. I was almost certain I was going to die. It was a very scary experience, but it all vanished after 5 minutes\u201d narrated a patient to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2015-08-03T06:00:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-08-03T06:04:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/panic-attack.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/","name":"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder? - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-08-03T06:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-03T06:04:11+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/08\/is-yours-a-panic-attack-or-a-panic-disorder\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Yours a Panic Attack or a Panic Disorder?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}